Ryoma's Best Rallying Partner
by MitsukiJunko
Summary: "Echizen will play with me." Momo said. "No! Ochibi will have a match with me." Eiji disagreed. "Get Lost, you two! He will play with me." Kaidoh retorted. They were in a heated fight when a hoarse voice from someone suddenly declared; "R-ryoma-kun will play tennis with me."


**Hi There! I was tired and thirsty and exhausted and tired… wait did I just say that? Anyway that didn't matter to me. I just love writing stories. This is for everyone. I hope you will like this… Please enjoy…**

**DISCLAIMER: Konomi Takeshi-sensei OWNS and OWNED the Prince of Tennis. Beg to disagree? I will k-Toink! **

…**Hey! That hurts! W-who hit me? **

…**Ore da! Aho! Don't scare your readers. They are reading MY fanfic that you made. **

…**R-ryoma Echizen? Gomen gomen. Everyone dou zo. Really Takeshi-sensei has all the rights to POT so you know that-**

…**MitsukiJunko-san!**

…**Hai,hai… I hope you like this…**

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**Ryoma's Best Rallying Partner**

He was bored already, not that because he could play tennis. He was not bored at playing but his senpais who were fighting of whom he would play against were definitely in front of him. He tapped his racket on his shoulder. Really, was he that strong for everyone that they want to play a match with him?

Wait?

He was indeed strong.

…And unbeatable.

That's why his senpais were insisting to play a match against him.

"I'll play with Echizen, today!" Kaidoh said.

In your dreams, mamushi. I'll play with him today!" Momo leaned closer to Kaidoh.

"NOO! OCHIBI will play with me." Eiji interrupted waving his racket like a child.

Inui butted in, "I am the best sparing partner for Echizen, today."

"No, I am." Momo and Kaidoh both said making them bicker with each other once again.

Ryoma was still watching them when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to the person.

"Echizen, you should play tennis with me."

"Fuji-senpai." He was about to agree when Eiji interrupted.

"Don't take the chance just because we are not paying attention, Fuji. He will play a game with me."

"No! He will play with me."

"No! He is going to play with me."

Ryoma sighed really hard as he tried to solve the chaos, "Ne, senpai-tachi. Why don't I play with you all?"

"URUSAI!"

Everyone looked at him making him to walk a few steps backwards. He created sweat drops as Momo said something;

"You know that it is impossible to fight us all at the same time."

He narrowed his eyes, "Then why don't you make up your mind already." He said who was getting bored in the situation once again.

Momo walked forward to him and grabbed his arm, "It's decided already, you are going to play with me."

Eiji stopped his kouhai and grabbed Ryoma's other arm, "No! He is going to play with me."

"S-senpai-tachi, let go of me!" Ryoma looked both to his side. He was not bored anymore, he was getting irritated now. No one dared to listen to him. They shouted in front of him.

He closed his eyes as veins popped in his head while the six regulars except Tezuka and Oishi were busy fighting of who he would play against with. When he found a chance to let loose, he pulled both of his arms and said something in annoyance.

"You guys should make up your mind. I will just wait here until one of you will play a match with me." he said as he started to walk from a bench.

Sakuno on the other hand, was watching with Tomoka over the fence. She also sweat dropped when they saw them fight who would play with the young tennis prodigy.

_I… too._ She thought. She gripped her hands tight in front of her chest.

The court was noisy as ever. Sumire was talking inside with the Captain and Vice-captain who didn't have any idea what was happening outside. No one had made decisions yet. Ryoma just let them bicker over nonsense things. He drank his ponta, if he lost interest of playing tennis today. He would probably go somewhere and practice by himself.

"Annoying senpai-tachi." He retorted just audible for himself.

"Echizen, will play with me!" Momo said.

"No! Ochibi will have a match with me!" Eiji disagreed.

Sakuno was staring at them… focused on their fighting.

"Get lost, you two! He will play with me!" Kaidoh retorted.

Kawamura, Inui and even Fuji started joining them in the round table.

_I want to… _

Tomoka was focused on the fight as well and she ended up fighting with Horio. She didn't realize the girl standing beside her was already acting weird.

The regulars were still busy arguing with other that the court was filled with dust already. They were in the heated bicker when suddenly a hoarse voice from someone declared;

"R-ryoma-kun will play tennis with me."

Even though it's nearly-almost audible to hear, it was still amazing that the bickering senpais was able to hear that despite the noises they created. Ryoma's sharp hearing ability wasn't any different. They looked behind the fence and stared at the source of the last person who spoke.

Tomoka even looked at her side, "S-sakuno…?"

Sakuno on the other hand, was still in her own world. She blinked her eyes twice when Tomoka tapped her shoulder, "e-eh? Tomoka-chan?" She was curious about the look her best friend gave her and then she looked inside the court only to be surprised that everyone was looking at their direction. She panicked;

"E-eh? W-why are you all looking this way? D-did I do something wrong?" she looked to her left and right as her confusion was drawing her.

Ryoma who was sitting on the bench suddenly stood up. Wearing his signature smirk; he pinned his hat down and said, "I found my rallying partner today."

Everyone looked at him in bewilderment. They waited for his next announcement as they were expecting the person that he would call.

He lifted his racket to his left shoulder with his eyes closed while he was adjusting his hat, "Ryuzaki!" he looked at her as he opened his eyes at the same time, "Play a match with me."

The auburn pigtailed girl was frozen on her feet. She was staring at him before realizing what the boy had said. Pink rosy cheek appeared on her when she finally understood what he said, "E-EEEHHH?!"

The crowd made reactions-teasing, annoying reactions in Ryoma's ears. But he couldn't careless, he was able to play with her anyway… rather than his stupid senpai- tachi. The girl was blushing really hard and didn't know what to do.

"Come inside," he ordered and then he looked at his coach, "it will be alright, ne sensei?"

Sumire who had just finished the meeting with Tezuka and Oishi heard the dare he made, "As long as you don't hurt my granddaughter or you will never step foot in this court again."

"che"

"O-obaa-chan…" she bashfully looked at her and then to the tennis prodigy, "R-ryoma-kun, I didn't know what I was saying I-"

"Come here." he demanded.

"b-but I am not good at-"

"Hey, Ryuzaki-chan!" Momo interrupted running outside the fence and pushed her inside the court, "save this day for him, it was your boyfriend who asked you to play with him."

"B-but I'm not his-"

"We'll give way for the both of you so better impress him with your skills. "Eiji butted next.

"I-I told you, I'm not good at-"

"This is your chance, Sakuno! Fight! Fight! Fight!" Tomoka cheered for her.

She was being dragged inside the court… opposite to Ryoma's side. Later on, Momoshiro handed her a tennis racket, "Have fun rallying with him."

She looked at the racket that she was holding and then to Ryoma who was smirking and last to everyone who was going to watch the match. She blushed a lot when she retorted, "Mou! Why would no one ever listen to me?"

Ryoma threw some tennis balls to her. Accurately, they all landed on her feet, "You serve first."

"E-eh?" she flinched as she looked at him. Ryoma position himself, waiting for her serve, "B-but y-you know how bad I am to this."

"That's why I am challenging you."

Another shocked was drawn to her. _What does he mean by that? Was he… making fun of me?_ She looked at the tennis balls below her but she didn't bother picking them up.

Ryoma stood up straight. He had the hint that she misunderstood his words, "challenging you can make your skills better."

She looked up to him once again, making the face of trying to understand everything. When he knew that she could understand that, he positioned himself once again, "Let's start."

Everyone started cheering the both of them. Some are teases, some are cheers. Well a combination of teases and cheers could make the match livelier.

Sakuno started to bend down to pick out the balls on the ground. When she was satisfied of what she would use, she threw the rest on the ground once again. She made her first serve as she whispered, "H-here goes nothing."

She lifted her left hand and swung her right hand with her racket on. The thing that she didn't know was whether the racket would hit the ball or not because her eyes were closed when she swung it.

"Fault!" Oishi shouted making her eyes snapped opened.

Ryoma sighed as he commented her, "Don't close your eyes."

She knew it, she didn't hit the ball. _T-this is so embarrassing. _She thought as she nodded and tried to hit the ball once again.

"Fault! Double Faults! 0-15." Oishi announced once again.

"You can do it, Ryuzaki-chan!" Momo and Eiji shouted at once.

She jerked her head because of their cheer. _T-they are definitely making fun of me._

"Concentrate on the ball."

She heard him say his words again. _I-is he giving me some advice?_

"Your hair is too long, cut it."

She reacted, "T-that's got nothing to do with anything."

"Do the serve again." Amber eyes stared at hazel eyes.

She followed his demand and served once again. She hit the ball this time and Ryoma could easily return it, but she didn't return it back at him.

"0-30!"

"Try again!" He ordered. The girl nodded. He noticed that the girl was motivated on her last serve for he could see determination emitting from her eyes. _This'll be good. _He thought.

The girl served the ball and hit it once again. She concentrated on the ball but she still didn't hit it.

"0-40!"

"You can do it! Ryuzaki-san!" The trio shouted with Tomoka.

"Maybe you can beat Echizen." Inui said as he was writing something in his notebook.

"Mada Mada dane, senpai." He smirked as he looked at the stance of the serving girl. _She still has lots more to work on._

"1 game to love! Echizen Ryoma!" Oishi announced.

Everyone reacted after that.

"It's Ochibi's service game, mataku." Eiji said as he put his hands at the back of his head.

"Echizen, go easy on the girl." Fuji shouted a little.

Ryoma dribbled the ball as he said his words, "It will be an insult to her if I do that." he said as he looked at the girl on the other side of the court.

The girl was blushing, "I-I won't mind, Ryoma-kun…"

His eyes widened. Seriously, this girl could take everything, "I won't go easy on you." he made his first service ace.

"15-0!"

"Don't be rude to the girl!" Momo shouted.

"Urusai, _Momoiro-senpai," _ he commented as he changed his name, "I am playing with my _partner_ here."

Momo and Sakuno both reacted at the same time. Everyone laughed on Momo's nickname and temporarily forgot Ryoma's next words. Momo was blushing with anger, "You little runt, wait till I get you!"

Sakuno on the other hand was blushing with a different reason. _P-partner? W-why did it sound so… different._

"30-0!"

She didn't see it coming. The ball just passed to her side that easily.

"Pay attention to the ball!" he shouted.

She pouted after that. _Whose fault do you think that was? _

Ryoma served once again. Miraculously, she hit it but her eyes were closed when she did that so she didn't see the return shot.

"40-0!" Oishi announced.

"Idiot! I said, don't close your eyes!"he couldn't stop his temper that time.

"ECHIZEN! stop calling her idiot!" Sumire butted in.

Ryoma just pinned his hat but the regulars were not finished scolding him yet.

"She's not an idiot, you idiot." Kaidoh retorted audible enough for him to hear.

"che" he retorted.

Ryoma unknowingly was getting all fired up. He made his serve that he knew last for that set.

"2 Games to love! Echizen Ryoma!" Oishi announced the set's points.

The game continued. Sakuno was to serve for the third set. She was into the game now as he could notice. Even she lacked stamina and endurance; she was able to hit his return and made faults sometimes. She was embarrassed whenever she made mistakes… no the girl was always blushing when he was around.

_Interesting._ He smirked as he observed her. The girl made efforts to hit his return and his return shots. Ryoma was doing his normal rally when he was at the court but he wasn't really going to be easy on her. But he could still see her potential and he acknowledged her will to improve.

"5 Games to love! Echizen Ryoma!"

It had been 15 minutes when he _rallied_ with her. On the contrary, there was never been rallying the entire game. The game was being held back for several minutes because of irritating and annoying interruptions of their senpais. Sakuno could only return at least two of his hits. Four rallies, the longest rally they made so far and they were on the last and final set.

Ryoma served for the last set. He didn't sweat a lot but he was not annoyed that he decided to let Sakuno to be his rallying partner. He enjoyed it for some reason. Everyone was still cheering on them.

"Go! Ryuzaki-chan! Fight-O Ryoma-sama!" Tomoka shouted over the fence. The trio were just looking at her with their narrowed eyes.

"Just who are you really cheering for, stupid girl?" Horio retorted.

Tomoka looked at him, "at least you are perfectly aware that you are not one of them to cheer from."

"What did you say?" he reacted and the two ended up fighting once again that even Katsuo and Kachiro couldn't stop them.

They stopped arguing when they heard a sound of a ball being hit from a racket.

"15-0!" Oishi announced.

Sakuno sighed as she looked at the place where the ball landed. _I think I can hit his shot in some way. I just need to know the right time. It may not be good but I just don't want to stop now. _She looked at the boy who was dribbling for his next serve and blushed;

_Besides I got the chance to play with him today. _

Ryoma served again. Sakuno didn't move as she tried to analyze the location of the ball.

"30-0!"

_What's this?_ Ryoma thought as he looked at the girl. The girl was focusing on the ball in his hand. He smirked because of the girl's actions. He served once again but the girl just followed the ball's volley.

"40-0!"

"Ah! Ryuzaki-chan, are you giving up already?" Eiji retorted.

"Hey! Don't give up. If Echizen is giving you a hard time then I'll beat him to a pulp." Momo said to him.

Everyone reacted with different reactions. True that Sakuno was tensed. It was the final serve.

"Nice stance!" Ryoma commented as he served the final serve.

Sakuno was surprised on his words. She followed the direction of the ball. _Don't close you eyes. Follow it. Concentrate. _She thought as she hit the ball with her racket and went on the other court. Ryoma returned it and the girl was all ready to hit it back and she did.

'pok'

"Hmmm." He reacted as he followed the direction of the ball and hit it back.

'pok'

_That's five. _He counted in his thoughts. _This is six._

'pok'

_Seven… eight. _She saw her run to the direction of the ball and hit it again.

'pok'

_Nine… _He counted and hit the ball back again… but this time Sakuno was out of the ball's reach. She tried to hit it but in only reach the rim of her racket causing the ball to lose its balance and bounced outside the white line of her court.

Everyone remained silent because of the outcome of the game. Ryoma who was in his stance stood straight. Sakuno was shocked on the last failed hit.

"6 Games to Love! Echizen Ryoma wins!" Oishi announced.

Everyone shouted and reacted differently.

"Nice game, you two!" Momo ran to the court and grabbed the ball. "You made her improve, lover boy."

"U-uhmm… I-I-" Sakuno who was on the other side of the court was being ran by the other regulars,

"That was quite a show, Ryuzaki-chan," Oishi commented her, "great game."

Sakuno blushed as she looked down, "I-I am not that goo-"

"Sakuno, remember that if someone is praising you, you should thank them, instead of looking down and all sad about it," Sumire said to her, "I guess, Ryoma will be the key for you to improve a lot."

She blushed even more, "t-thank you… O-oishi-senpai." She tried to ignore her grandmother's last words but it was useless.

Ryoma was being teased on the other side of the court but he just reacted like nothing. He was looking opposite to his court and was staring at her. _I think I made her boost a little. Well, that's good for her. H_e walked outside his court and went to hers, "Nice rallying, great job."

"Eh?!" She looked at him aimlessly.

"We rallied for nine times. It was the longest rally we made for the whole set." He explained after walking out of the court and approached his seat. Sakuno looked at him and thought.

_N-nine times… I-I rallied with him for nine times._

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**Later on, at the drinking fountain:**

She was washing her face as she was thinking of something. She closed the faucet when she was done but she didn't leave the place yet.

_If I didn't blurt my thoughts back then, I wouldv'e have played with him today. It was great though and embarrassing…_

"Nice game."

She looked behind her and was a little surprised to see Ryoma standing just a few meters away from her, "D-didn't you just comment me on that a while ago?"

"It wasn't a comment, I was praising you," he said as he walked closer to her and reached for the handle of the faucet which was in front of her, "and it was for the rally we made earlier; I was talking about the game now."

"I-I see…"She looked down as she couldn't stare at him. She was blushing because the boy was in front of her… a few inches to be exact. The boy's hand was still on the handle of the faucet but she couldn't hear the flow of the water coming from it, "t-thank you." she thought that when she said that the boy would leave so that he could give her some space but she was wrong.

"Don't mention it," He said giving her an assurance, "You are my best rallying partner after all." He kissed her on the forehead after saying that.

She blushed when the boy did that. Her eyes widened as her heart was beating so fast.

"You can catch up with the direction of the ball. Continue with that concentration. Practice with your running skills everyday to enhance your endurance too."

She looked up at him only to be shocked. The boy was still inches from her making her blush a lot. She nodded as a reply.

"Good." He let go of the faucet that he didn't open in the first place. She thought that he would leave but for the second time she was wrong;

"I kissed you here because you rallied with me for nine times," he said making her face flushed red than the normal blush. His index finger was on her forehead.

"If you score a point from me then I'll kiss you here," he said sliding his index finger down to her nose, "and if you win a game from me, I'll kiss you here." he announced once again making his index finger land on her lips.

Her eyes dilated. His words made her speechless. It was his condition every time they would play. The boy distanced his index finger to her lips and started to walk away.

"Be prepared on our next game."

"E-eh?" she found her voice after that, "w-what do you mean?"

"Ryuzaki-sensei asked me to teach you so I suggested that we should have those practices as games instead."

She was stunned on his words. The boy agreed on her grandma's request. But she remembered something, "W-what if I didn't manage to do anything?"

"Simple," he said smirking as he looked to his shoulder, "You will do 'it' instead of me."

She held the front of the sink so that she could support her body there. Her face was beet red and it won't seemed to leave her face for a while now.

_s-so… I-I am having kisses with him w-when we play?_

_**~Owari~**  
_

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**Done! It was finished. Did you like it? I hope you did. **

**Thank you for reading guys…**

**-Ryuzaki has still lots of work to do.**

**-You are soooo proud of you Ryoma-san…**

**-Mada mada dane MitzukiJunko-san…**

**-sighed…**

**Echizen Ryoma here… this author of mine… ehem I mean my fanfic author of mine wants to hear your thoughts about this one-shot of me. Was I good? Hmmm nah, I am always great. But still she wants to know guys… Yours truly… domo arigatou guzaimasu…**

"**Woah… what was that?... I really love you Ryoma-san!"**

**~I ended up watching The New Prince of Tennis last night. I noticed that You(Ryoma-san) never used your right hand to perform twist serve through the entire training and you didn't bring or buy your favorite drink as well... tee hee hee... Am I that observant...? More! I want more of your stunt... more episodes please... Onegaishimasu!**

**~MitsukiJunko~**


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